Improving legislation on counteraction to raiding as a direction in strengthening ukraine’s economic security

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the current state of the legal framework for counteraction to raiding in Ukraine as the latter is a serious threat to national economy and also to detect the most problematic aspects in it. Methodology. This study has been carried out within the ontological framework of the postneoclassical science with application of monographic analysis method and the dialectical method. The use of these two methods allowed describing the current state of the legal framework for counteraction to raiding in Ukraine and to outline the most important directions in its further improvement. Results of the carried out research demonstrate that the legal framework that is supposed to complicate illegal and quasi legal takeovers of enterprises by raiders has been gradually improving in Ukraine. However, this improvement is fragmentary and not systemic, and this hinders planned and consistent activities of the state in the field of creation and development of the institutional economy. The current state of the legal framework for counteraction to raiding in Ukraine and the lack of uninterrupted systemic efforts on its improvement is the root cause why quasi raiding acts today are taking new shapes and forms. The most widely spread schemes of raiding takeovers of businesses and their assets in the recent years have been based on the unregulated intrusion in state registers and manipulations with the related records. Stronger protection of property rights against these manipulations with state register data should be based on application of the norms introduced by several Laws of Ukraine approved in the recent years. However, efficiency of these novelties in part of counteraction to raiding attacks would depend not that much on the official state of these changes but rather on their actual, practical implementation. Practical implications. Results of studying the state of legal framework for counteraction to raiding in Ukraine outline the directions for further improvement of the normative and legal basis for fighting raiding in Ukraine, in particular, for the prevention of strengthening quasi legal raiding and also for better systemicity of the related legal framework. Value/originality. Comprehensive analysis of the legal framework for counteraction to raiding in Ukraine, taking into account the latest raiding takeover schemes, has not been performed before, even though there have been studies dedicated to certain aspects of raiding (for example, violations of corporate rights). The obtained results do not only outline the directions for further improvement of the regulatory and legal basis for the fight against raiding in Ukraine but can also be applied in economic security studies of all levels (mega-, mezo- and microlevels namely).

References

1. International Property Right Index. Available online at [in Russian]: https://gtmarket.ru/ratings/international-property-right-index.
2. Maksimov M. Is the number of raiding attacks in Ukraine really growing? Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://www.epravda.com.ua/rus/columns/2020/12/15/669171/.
3. Burbelo O.A., Kozachenko G.V., Pogorelov Y.S., Burbelo S.O. Raiding: origins, procedures, means of prevention: Monograph [in Ukrainian]. Luhansk: Luhansk Didorenko State University of Internal Affairs, 2012, 84 p.
4. On approval of the Declaration of budget aims and tasks for 2008 (Budget declaration): Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as of March, 01, 2007, #316. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/316-2007-%D0%BF#Text.
5. On introduction of changes and amendments to several legal acts of Ukraine concerning the establishment of criminal responsibility for enterprises takeover (raiding): draft of the Law of Ukraine, registered at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on March, 13, 2007, registration number 3300. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb/webproc4_2?id=&pf3516=3300&skl=6.
6. The Civil Code of the Ukrainian SSR as of May, 20, 1985. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1540-06#Text.
7. The Civil Code of Ukraine, as of January, 16, 2003, #435IV. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/435-15#Text.
8. Mamutov V. Raiding covered by law [in Ukrainian]. Mirror of the week, 2008, #38.9. Law of Ukraine “On introduction of changes to several legal acts of Ukraine concerning counteraction to illegal mergers and takeovers of enterprises”, as of November, 17, 2009, #1720-VI. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://ips.ligazakon.net/document/T091720.
10. Criminal Code of Ukraine (edition as of January, 16, 2020). Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2341-14#Text.
11. Kozachenko, H., Andrushchenko, I., Pogorelov Yu. Raiding as a threat to economic security of Ukraine: legal framework of counteraction. Journal Of Law And Polit-ical Sciences, 2020, Volume 23, Issue 2, pp. 297-341.
12. Law of Ukraine “On joint stock companies” as of September, 17, 2008, #514-VI. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/514-17#Text.
13. Directive 2004/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on takeover bids. Available online at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX-%3A32004L0025.
14. Law of Ukraine “On introduction of changes to several legal acts of Ukraine concerning the improvement of state registration of rights on immovable property andprotection of property rights”, as of October, 06, 2016, #1666-VIII. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/1666-19#Text.
15. Nechval Ya. New Law vs raiders, or Changes to legislation = stopping raiding? Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://uz.ligazakon.ua/ua/magazine_article/EA009854.
16. Law of Ukraine “On introduction of changes to several legal acts of Ukraine concerning the protection of property rights”, as of October, 03, 2019, #159-IX. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/159-20#Text.
17. Law of Ukraine “On introduction of changes to several legal acts of Ukraine concerning the counteraction to raiding”, as of December, 05, 2019, #340-IX. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/340-20#Text.
18. Boyko M. New safeguards in counteraction to raiding in the light of Antiraiding Law. Available online at [in Ukrainian]: https://biz.ligazakon.net/analitycs/192651_nov-zapobzhniki-v-protid-reyderstvu-v-rozumnn-antireyderskogo-zakonu.